Prepared By: Praveen N

SJC Institute of Technology, Chickkaballapur

Department of Aeronautical Engineering
Subject Name: Avionics (10AE82)
Unit 7 Notes

Control and display technologies

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)
The cathode-ray tube is a form of visual indicator that permits an interpretation of electrical
phenomena in terms of a, picture painted on a phosphorescent screen by a sharply focused
beam of electrons which is controlled in position and intensity by electrical signals.
A cathode-ray tube is an elongated vacuum tube with a cylindrical neck and an enlarged section
or bulb that has a flattened front surface, containing or having associated with it as external
components an electron gun, an electron-beam-deflecting system, and a phosphorescent screen.
The electron gun comprises those electrodes that create, control, and focus the beam of
electrons. It is placed axially within the neck of the tube, and consists of a heated cathode as
the source of electrons, and one or more electrodes that form these electrons into a beam that
travels axially down the tube at high velocity.

Figure 1: Elements of CRT

The beam is controlled in intensity by a negative control grid consisting of a pierced diaphragm
immediately in front of the cathode. Immediately in front of this grid may be an accelerating
grid (sometimes called the second grid), which is either at a potential of several hundred volts
positive with respect to the cathode or at full anode potential. If present, the electrode serves to
make the beam current independent of variations in the potentials of subsequent electrodes.
The electron beam is given its final high velocity by virtue of a potential difference of from
500 volts to several thousand volts maintained between the cathode and an anode formed by a
conducting coating (usually Aquadag or Dixonite) on the inner glass surface over the region
indicated.

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An additional element of the gun consists of a focusing electron lens, which makes the beam
converge to a small area or spot at the front of the bulb. This electron lens may be either
electrostatic or magneto static. If it is electrostatic, it is formed by the electric field distribution
between the focus electrode (or first anode), which is maintained at an intermediate potential,
and the high-voltage second node. Adjustment of focus is made by controlling the potential of
the focus electrode. If the focusing lens is magneto static, it is formed by the magnetic-field
distribution along the axis of the tube set up by a focus coil or permanent magnet external to
the tube, In this case, focus adjustment is provided by varying either the current through the
coil, or the position of a shunt in the case of a permanent-magnet focusing device. Defection is
produced by transverse electric or magnetic fields in the region indicated in Fig, 1.1. The same
type of field is usually used for both deflection and focus; although electrostatic focus
sometimes is combined with magnetic deflection. In any case tubes are classified as
“electrostatic” or “magnetic in accordance with the method of deflection.
Liquid Crystal Display
A liquid crystal material acts like a shutter: it blocks, dims, or passes light unobstructed,
depending on the magnitude of the electric field across the material. Backlight is provided by
the light source. To form a working LCD, individual components (glass casing, liquid crystal
cell, alignment layer, conductive electrodes and polarizers) are combined. Light entering the
display is guided by the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules twisted by ninety degrees
from the top plate to the bottom. This twist allows the incoming light to pass through the second
polarizer. When voltage is applied, the liquid crystal molecules straighten out and stop
redirecting light. As a result, light travels straight through and is filtered out by the second
polarizer. Consequently, no light can pass through, making this region darker compared to the
rest of the screen. High-end displays today have easily 256 different levels of light or shades
allowing a grey scale range in which graphics and characters can be displayed in many varying
intensities
The AMLCD Basic Technologies defining the AMLCD panel structure and functioning, as
illustrated in are:
 TN - Twisted Nematic
 STN - Super Twisted Nematic
 VA (MVA) - Vertical Alignment (Multidomain Vertical Alignment)
 IPS (AFFS) - In Plane Switching ( Advanced Field Fringe Switching),

Head Up Displays
A head up display basically projects a collimated display in the pilot’s head up forward line of
sight so that he can view both the display information and the outside world scene at the same
time. The fundamental importance of collimating the display cannot be overemphasised and
will be explained in more detail later. Because the display is collimated, that is focused at
infinity (or a long distance ahead), the pilot’s gaze angle of the display symbology does not
change with head movement so that the overlaid symbology remains conformal, or stabilised,
with the outside world scene.The pilot is thus able to observe both distant outside world objects
and display data at the same time without having to change the direction of gaze or refocus the
eyes. There are no parallax errors and aiming symbols for either a flight path director, or for

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weapon aiming in the case of a combat aircraft, remain overlaid on a distant ‘target’ irrespective
of the pilot’s head movement

The advantages of head up presentation of essential flight data such as the artificial horizon,
pitch angle, bank angle, flight path vector, height, airspeed and heading can be seen in Figure
2 which shows a typical head up display as viewed by the pilot during the landing phase

Figure 2: Head-up presentation of primary flight information

The pilot is thus free to concentrate on the outside world during manoeuvres and does not need
to look down at the cockpit instruments or head down displays. It should be noted that there is
a transition time of one second or more to re-focus the eyes from viewing distant objects to
viewing near objects a metre or less away, such as the cockpit instruments and displays and
adapt to the cockpit light environment.

HUDs are now being installed in civil aircraft because it has following advantages:

 Improved situational awareness and increased safety in circumstances such as wind

shear or terrain/traffic avoidance manoeuvres
 To display automatic landing guidance to enable the pilot to land the aircraft safely in
conditions of very low visibility due to fog, as a backup and monitor for the automatic
landing system
 Enhanced vision using a raster mode HUD to project a FLIR video picture of the outside
world from a FLIR sensor installed in the aircraft, or, a synthetic picture of the outside
world generated from a forward looking millimetric radar sensor in the aircraft.

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Figure 3: HUD Schematic

The basic configuration of a HUD is shown schematically in Figure 3. The pilot views the
outside world through the HUD combiner glass (and windscreen). The combiner glass is
effectively a ‘see through’ mirror with a high optical transmission efficiency so that there is
little loss of visibility looking through the combiner and windscreen. It is called a combiner as
it optically combines the collimated display symbology with the outside world scene viewed
through it.

Direct Voice Input

Direct voice input (DVI) control is a system which enables the pilot to enter data and control
the operation of the aircraft’s avionic systems by means of speech. The spoken commands and
data are recognised by a speech recognition system which compares the spoken utterances with
the stored speech templates of the system vocabulary. The recognised commands, or data, are
then transmitted to the aircraft sub-systems by means of the interconnecting data bus (e.g. MIL
STD 1553B data bus).

The pilot can thus stay head up and does not have to divert attention from the outside world
in order to operate touch panels, switches, push buttons, keyboards etc. DVI can thus reduce
the pilot’s work load in high work load situations.

The main characteristics and requirements for an airborne DVI system are:

 Fully connected speech. The speech recognition system must be able to recognise
normal fully connected speech with no pauses required between words.
 Must be able to operate in the cockpit noise environment
 Vocabulary size. The required vocabulary is around 200 to 300 words.
 Speech template duration. The maximum speech template duration is around 5 seconds.
 Vocabulary duration. The maximum duration of the total vocabulary is around 160
seconds.

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 Syntax nodes. The maximum number of syntax nodes required is about 300
 Duration of utterance. There must be no restrictions on the maximum duration of an
input utterance
 Recognition response time. This must be in real time

Multi-Function Displays (MFDs)

The primary flight instruments can all be displayed simultaneously on one reasonably
easy-to-read video monitor much like the flat panel displays in laptop computers. These
displays are called primary flight displays (PFDs). You must still cross-check around the panel
and on the display, but more information is available in a smaller space in easier to read colors.
These convenient displays receive data from sensors such as magnetometers or magnetic flux
valves to determine heading referenced to magnetic north. The attitude (pitch and roll) of the
aircraft is sensed by the attitude heading reference system (AHRS) and displayed as the attitude
gyro would be in conventional instrumentation. The altitude, airspeed, and outside temperature
values are sensed in the air data computer (ADC) and presented in the PFD on vertical scales
or portions of circles.
The multi-function display (MFD) can often display the same information as
the PFDand can be used as a backup PFD. Usually the MFD is used for traffic, route selection,
and weather and terrain avoidance. However, some PFDs also accommodate these same
displays, but in a smaller view due to the primary flight instrument areas already used in the
display. You must learn and practice using that specific system.
It is important to be very careful in the selection (programming) of the various functions
and features. In the event of failures, which have a large impact on flight safety and situational
awareness, you must always be ready and able to complete the flight safely using only the
standby instruments.
A multi-function display (MFD) (part of multi function structures) is a small screen
(CRT or LCD) in an aircraft surrounded by multiple buttons that can be used to display
information to the pilot in numerous configurable ways. Often an MFD will be used in concert
with a primary flight display. MFDs are part of the digital era of modern planes or helicopter.
The first MFD were introduced by air forces. The advantage of an MFD over analog display is
that an MFD does not consume much space in the cockpit. For example the cockpit of RAH-
66 “Comanche” does not have analog dials or gauges at all. All information is displayed on the
MFD pages. The possible MFD pages could differ for every plane, complementing their
abilities (in combat).

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Many MFDs allow the pilot to display their navigation route, moving map, weather
radar, NEXRAD, GPWS, TCAS and airport information all on the same screen.
MFDs were added to the Space Shuttle (as the glass cockpit) starting in 1998 replacing the
analog instruments and CRTs. The information being displayed is similar, and the glass cockpit
was first flown on the STS-101 mission.
In modern automotive technology, MFDs are used in cars to display navigation,

HOTAS
HOTAS, an acronym of Hands On Throttle-And-Stick, is the name given to the concept of
placing buttons and switches on the throttle lever and flight control stick in an aircraft's
cockpit, allowing pilots to access vital cockpit functions and fly the aircraft without having to
remove their hands from the throttle and flight controls. Application of the concept was
pioneered with the Ferranti AIRPASS radar and gunsight control system used by the English
Electric Lightning[1] and is widely used on all modern fighter aircraft such as the F-16
Fighting Falcon, the A-10A/A-10C and others.
HOTAS is a shorthand term which refers to the pattern of controls in the modern fighter
aircraft cockpit. Having all critical switches on the stick and throttle allows the pilot to keep
both "hands on throttle-and-stick", thus allowing focus to remain on more important duties than
looking for controls in the cockpit. The goal is to improve pilots' situational awareness, their
ability to manipulate switch and button controls in turbulence, under stress, or during high G-
force maneuvers, to improve reaction time, to minimize instances when hands must be removed
from one or the other of the aircraft's controls to use another aircraft system, and reduce total
time spent doing so.
The concept has also been applied to the steering wheels of modern open wheel racecars, like
those used in Formula One and the Indy Racing League. HOTAS has been adapted for game
controllers used for flight simulators (most such controllers are based on the Fighting Falcon's
controls)[ and in cars equipped with radio controls on the steering wheel. In the modern military
aircraft cockpit the HOTAS concept is sometimes enhanced by the use of Direct Voice Input to
produce the so-called "V-TAS" concept, and augmented with helmet mounted display systems
such as the "Schlem" used in the MiG-29 and Su-27, which allow the pilot to control various
systems using his line of sight, and to guide missiles by simply looking at the target.

Multi-Function Keyboard (MFK)

The Multi-Function Keyboard (MFK) is an avionics sub-system through which the pilot
interacts to configure mission related parameters like flight plan, airfield database, and
communication equipment during initialization and operation flight phase of mission.
The MFK consists of a MOTOROLA 68000 series processor with ROM, RAM and EEPROM
memory. It is connected to one of the 1553B buses used for data communication. It is also
connected to the Multi-Function Rotary switch (MFR) through a RS422 interface. The MFK

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has a built-in display unit and a keyboard. The display unit is a pair of LCD based Colour
Graphical Display, as well as a Monochrome Heads-Up Display
The Real-time operating specifications are very stringent in such applications because the
performance and safety of the aircraft depend on it. Efficient design of the architecture and
code is required for successful operation.

LED displays

 Light emitting diodes are used in LED displays.

 Operation of the LED displays is based on the injection luminescence
 LED displays are available in many different sizes and
shapes.
 Usually LED displays radiate red, orange, yellow or green
light.
 They have a wide operating temperature range, are inexpensive, easily
interfaced to digital logic, easily multiplexed, do not require high voltages
and have fast response time.
 The viewing angle is good and display of arbitrary numbers of digits is easily
assembled.

The LED device is essentially a semiconductor diode, emitting light when a forward bias
voltage is applied to a PN junction. The light intensity is proportional to the bias current and
the colour dependent on the material used. The p-n junction is formed in a III-V group material,
such as aluminium, gallium, indium, phosphorous, antimony, or arsenic.

Electroluminescent display (EL)

Electroluminescent Displays (ELDs) are a type of Flat panel display created by sandwiching a
layer of electroluminescent material such as GaAs between two layers of conductors. When
current flows, the layer of material emits radiation in the form of visible
light. Electroluminescence (EL) is an optical and electrical phenomenon where a material
emits light in response to an electric current passed through it, or to a strong electric field.

EL works by exciting atoms by passing an electric current through them, causing them to
emit photons. By varying the material being excited, the colour of the light emitted can be
changed. The actual ELD is constructed using flat, opaque electrode strips running parallel to
each other, covered by a layer of electroluminescent material, followed by another layer of
electrodes, running perpendicular to the bottom layer. This top layer must be transparent in
order to let light escape. At each intersection, the material lights, creating a pixel.

PDP – Plasma Displays

Plasma screens are composed of millions of cells sandwiched between two panels of glass.
Placed between the glass plates extending across the entire screen, there are long electrodes
known as address electrodes and display electrodes which form a grid. The address electrodes
are printed onto the rear glass plate. The transparent display electrodes, insulated by a dielectric

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material and covered by a protective magnesium oxide layer, are located above the cells along
the front glass plate. The electrodes intersecting a specific cell are charged in order to excite a
xenon and neon gas mixture contained within each cell. When the gas mixture is excited
creating plasma, it releases ultraviolet light which then excites the phosphorous electrons
located on the sides of the cells. When these electrons revert back to their original lower energy
state, visible light is emitted. Each PDP pixel is composed of three cells containing red, green,
and blue phosphorous respectively.

Touch-panel Technologies

Touch Panel – Screen is a position sensitive device, which could be activated using a finger or a
stylus. In the same time, they are transmissive and could be overlaid to display. This allows
integration of the display visual content and touch position detection into unique human machine
interface capability. This capability makes them very suitable as a data input device for mobile
applications. The touch technology could also be useful in all applications including some avionic
displays. In order to be considered as suitable for integration, a touch panel should have sufficiently
high optical clarity, transmission and touch position sensing resolution, at least. The major benefits
of the touch technologies are:
 Easy to use – what you see you touch to generate command
 Flexible –One can implement different options using the same interface
 Upgradeable – easy and fast changes through the software
 Cost Effective – relatively cheap technical solution
 Rugged and reliable – could be used in the extremely harsh environment

Regarding the promising capabilities, a lot of effort was made in the development of suitable
technologies. There are some of them applicable in avionic displays: -
 Resistive (RES)
 Capacitive & Projective Capacitive (CAP)
 Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW)
 Infrared Array Sensor (IR)

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